US snooping recent created an uproar in the parliament
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with U S Secretary of State John Kerry at a meeting in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: India indulged in some plain speaking with the US on Thursday during their annual Strategic Dialogue, telling it that the kind of snooping done by the NSA is “unacceptable” particularly between two friendly countries.
Striking a defensive note, the US responded by saying that while it did not discuss intelligence matters in public, the two nations can resolve matters through discussions between the intelligence communities of the two countries.
Upon the conclusion of the dialogue India also had the satisfaction of ensuring that the joint statement called upon Pakistan to work to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice.
The matter of US snooping on BJP leaders has roiled the political firmament, including the Parliament, in recent days. Earlier there were reports that the NSA had snooped on the Indian embassy in Washington and its Permanent Mission in New York.
Asked if she raised the matter during the dialogue she co-chaired with US secretary of state John Kerry, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said, “I told them that when this news appeared in newspapers, Indians were angry and indignant. I even told him that both countries consider each other friendly nations and it will not be acceptable to us if one friendly country spies on another.”
The blunt words on the snooping issue came even as India and the US appeared to sing paeans to bilateral ties especially its pote-ntial in the days ahead.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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